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IU's football program is 3-0, and believe it or not, there is some buzz surrounding the Hoosiers.

Wins over Florida International, Virginia (in a monsoon) and Ball State might not move the needle nationally, but for a program that has the longest Top-25 drought of any Power-5 conference school (1994) and leads all FBS programs with the most losses in history (672), you look for silver linings wherever you can.

So can the Hoosiers get to 4-0? History suggests no. In the program's entire 130-year history, IU has started 4-0 just six times. There was the dream Rose Bowl season in 1967, and who could forget the 1910 juggernaut that beat the likes of DePauw, University of Chicago, Millikin and Butler?

In the past 50 years, IU has opened the season 3-0 11 times. But before you start making your winter bowl plans, the Hoosiers have only reached a bowl six of those seasons. Five times, they started the season 3-0 and finished with a losing record. So temper your expectations.

Tom Allen's Hoosiers open Big Ten play Saturday at home against Michigan State. IU beat the Spartans in 2016 and hung tough last year, losing 17-9 in East Lansing. So it's not entirely out of the question. MSU is only a 4.5-point favorite Saturday, and it struggled to put away Utah State (38-31) and lost at Arizona State (16-13) before having last week off.

Get to 4-0, and then your chances of postseason play increase exponentially (naturally). But of those 11 3-0 starts the past half century, the Hoosiers have only reached 4-0 four times.

► After going 0-11 in Bill Mallory's first season in 1984, the Hoosiers shot out to a shocking 4-0 start in 1985, beating Louisville, Navy, Missouri and Northwestern.

"The record is for real, but many suspect the Hoosiers aren't," wrote IndyStar reporter Bill Benner on Oct. 12, 1985.

He was right. IU didn't win a game the rest of the year. Finished season: 4-7.

► A year later, the Hoosiers started 4-0 again, but this time at least finished their regular-season schedule 2-5 to earn a berth in the All-American Bowl against Deion Sanders and Florida State, which they would lose 27-13. Finished season: 6-6.

► In 1990, Bill Mallory's Hoosiers, led by Trent Green, Vaughn Dunbar and Mike Dumas, hammered Kentucky (45-24), Missouri (58-7), Eastern Michigan (37-6) and Northwestern (42-0) to open the season. They didn't win another game for a month, but tied Ohio State (which, lets be honest, is really a win). They rebounded to beat Wisconsin and Purdue in November to earn a Peach Bowl berth. Finished season: 6-5-1.

IU opened the 2015 season 4-0 and finished the regular season with an Old Oaken Bucket win in West Lafayette.(Photo: Matt Kryger / IndyStar)

► In 2015, Kevin Wilson guided IU to four-straight wins over Southern Illinois, Florida International, Western Kentucky and Wake Forest. Not exactly a murderer's row, but it was the first time in 25 years the Hoosiers started 4-0. They then lost six in a row once Big Ten play started before salvaging the year with wins over Maryland and a putrid Purdue team. That was good enough for a trip to New York for the Pinstripe Bowl. Finished season: 6-7.